Waiting For You
by NinthFeather
Summary: "I want so badly to end the spell that will send him to the Dimensional Witch, and send myself instead. And yet, I know I cannot. Kurogane must be the one that takes this journey..." Tomoyo sends off her knight. KuroTomo.


_A/N: This is a oneshot I just decided to write. It's written in first person from Princess Tomoyo's perspective, and takes place in Chapitre 1 when she is sending Kurogane away. It does contain spoilers for later volumes of the manga. If you have not read the volumes that take place in Seresu, do not read this fic._

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Waiting For You

"True. There are none in the country of Japan who are stronger than you," I say. "So…we have no choice left." I raise two fingers on each hand, then bring them together so that the fingers of my left hand touch the palm of my right.

"Eh?" Kurogane asks.

I move my hands so the palms face each other, with only the tips of my spread-out fingers touching. A glowing purple seal forms between myself and Kurogane.

"What's going on?" Kurogane demands.

I have a different question. Why am I doing this? I don't want him to leave. The future in my dreams is unclear, but one thing is certain- he won't be back soon. It could be months, or even years. I know there are others who need him more than I do, right now, but I can't help wanting him to stay.

I separate my hands and turn them so their palms face Kurogane. The seal rushes at him, and the ground around him starts to liquefy and churn. Tendrils of it rise up around him, wrapping around his limbs. It's done.

"In the old days, they always said that the bad ones must journey to get better," I say, laughing.

"They never said that!" Kurogane yells.

I tell myself this is necessary. In order to guide the future onto the path I want it to take, Kurogane must be angry with me when he begins his journey. If he's not angry, he'll start worrying that I was displeased with him. If he believes that I sent him away because of that, he'll be hurt. And if he's hurt, he might lose some of the determination he needs in order to complete his journey. I cannot allow that to happen. No matter how much I hate having him angry with me.

"So now I'll send you flying to another world," I tell him.

"I don't want to fly!" Kurogane protests.

I nearly laugh. No matter how much this journey changes him, I'm sure some things will stay the same. His stubbornness is one of the most endearing things about him. When he gets into these kinds of moods, I start to think that he must have acted the same way when he was a child, before the day his parents died. I always wish I'd met him before then. I would've liked to know what he was like before he had all the burdens that day left on him.

"You will meet a great many new people," I tell him. "It is there that you will learn the true meaning of strength."

When I say this, my dreams about the future of his journey fill my mind. He will learn about strength, of that I am certain. However, he'll have to go through a lot of pain first. I want so badly to end the spell that will send him to the Dimensional Witch, and send myself instead.

And yet, I know I cannot. Kurogane must be the one that takes this journey. That much is clear. I also have a duty to this country. I am the Tsukiyomi, the dream reader that sees its future. In this country, I alone have that power. And so, I cannot be the one to go.

"And to that end…although it pains me greatly, I will see you off," I say, deliberately adopting a teasing tone. Kurogane must be angry at me when he leaves, for the sake of the future. And yet, I hope that, at some point, he realizes that I meant what I just said.

"You're not seeing me off, you're _forcing _me off!" Kurogane yells. His reactions are so predictable. It's another thing about him that I find cute.

"Ah, I nearly forgot," I continue. "You require one last use of my arts."

I stretch out my arms, my palms facing Kurogane, and form a triangle using the tips of my pointer fingers and my thumbs. Another, smaller seal forms. I send this one at Kurogane, too, and it connects with the visor of his helmet.

"What the h- is _this!_?" Kurogane exclaims, hands flying to his face.

I take a deep breath to steady myself. "A curse," I explain. "From this moments on, unnecessary death will be forbidden to you. For each person you kill, your strength will lessen. I suggest you take care."

It's the only way he'll learn. If I didn't seal his ability to kill, there would be no chance for him to learn strength. He would continue to believe it only existed within swords, and that the only measure of strength was how many you had killed. He needs this.

And yet, the future I see frightens me. There may come a time in the future when he will be forced to kill, and he will pay dearly for it. I had a dream where he returned to this country covered in his own blood. I pray it will not come to pass. I fear it will.

Kurogane is becoming exasperated. "Cut this out, Tomoyo!" The entire lower half of his body has been pulled into the floor by the spell.

"How dare you address Her Highness that way?" Souma demands.

Souma didn't have to scold him. I didn't mind. Even if it's only because he's angry, I can't help but be happy that he called me by my name.

"Farewell," I tell him. "And if fate allows it, we'll meet again."

I keep my goodbye impersonal. I know that if I don't, I'll start crying. I keep reminding myself that he must be angry when he leaves.

"Please be well on your journey…Kurogane!" I say. It's the most honest thing I've said to him since I cast the dimensional transfer.

"I'll be back, and don't you forget it!" Kurogane yells.

The spell is mostly finished. All that is visible of him now is his fist, and Ginryuu. The last tendrils of the liquefied floor wrap around his hand and the sword and pull them down, too. He's gone.

I suddenly feel absolutely exhausted. Part of it is the amount of energy dimensional transfer requires. The other half is the difficultly of saying goodbye.

I succeeded. Kurogane left this world still angry at me. He'll go on his journey, and learn the true nature of strength- the different forms it can take, and the danger it poses to those who have it. His companions will be his teachers. They will protect him, and endanger him. He will come to care about them, perhaps even more than he does about me. When he returns, he will be a different person than he is now. The Kurogane I sent away today will never truly come back.

_Even so_, I think to myself. _I won't forget it. And I'll be waiting for you to return._

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_A/N: Thank you for reading, and please review!_


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